Recording of Jacob Sullivan's disputed confession in Grace Packer homicide is played in court

WILLIAM THOMAS CAIN / CAIN IMAGES

Jacob Sullivan, 44, of Horsham, arrives for his arraignment on 19 charges, including criminal homicide, rape, kidnapping, abuse of a corpse and a number of related conspiracy counts Sunday January 8, 2017.

Jacob Sullivan, 44, of Horsham, arrives for his arraignment on 19 charges, including criminal homicide, rape, kidnapping, abuse of a corpse and a number of related conspiracy counts Sunday January 8, 2017. (WILLIAM THOMAS CAIN / CAIN IMAGES)

Jacob Sullivan’s voice echoed off the walls of a Bucks County courtroom Tuesday as detectives played a recording of him recounting the rape and killing of 14-year-old Grace Packer.

In halting sentences punctuated by heavy breathing on the recording, Sullivan told county detective Timothy Carroll that he punched the teen in the face before raping her because “it was just a weird fantasy thing.”

Sullivan also said he tried to calm the girl down when she was crying and scared after the assault.

“I didn’t want to make it just a terror show for her,” Sullivan said on the recording, which was played during a pretrial hearing in Doylestown. “I wanted to make sure she had some fun.”

Sullivan ended the disputed confession by telling the detective that he was cooperating in the hopes of being placed in protective custody when he went to jail.

After the 30-minute recording was played, the hearing continued, with attorneys asking legal questions and taking notes.

Defense attorneys are seeking to have statements Sullivan made to police and hospital employees suppressed, arguing that Sullivan, who was recovering from a suicide attempt, wasn’t in his right mind when he admitted to numerous crimes.

Sullivan is charged with homicide and other counts along with his girlfriend, Sara Packer, 43. The couple is awaiting trial on charges they raped and killed Grace in July 2016, then hid her body in the attic of their rented Richland Township home for months before dismembering the remains and discarding them in Luzerne County. Hunters found the remains in October 2016.

Grace was Sara Packer’s adopted daughter. Prosecutors say the couple killed her to fulfill a “rape and murder fantasy” they shared.

He did in fact describe how Grace Packer was killed and where she was killed. He knew things that I knew or believed to be true.— Bucks County detective Timothy Carroll

Carroll testified that Sullivan, 45, welcomed detectives into his hospital room Jan. 7, 2017, and recounted the rape and murder.

“He was somber,” Carroll said. “He seemed to be wanting to get it off his chest at that point.”

Carroll said he was initially summoned to Abington Memorial Hospital because health care workers reported that Sullivan had confessed. One week before, Sullivan and Packer had been rushed to the hospital after swallowing handfuls of pills in what police called a suicide pact.

Sullivan had been previously questioned by police, and had been hauled before a grand jury in the weeks after Grace’s body was found, but each time he asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and refused to answer questions, according to testimony.

Carroll noted that Sullivan did not seem surprised to see the detective arrive at his hospital room door, and willingly agreed to speak without an attorney present. The detective said Sullivan’s account was credible.

“He did in fact describe how Grace Packer was killed and where she was killed. He knew things that I knew or believed to be true,” Carroll said.

On the recording played in court, Sullivan said he and Packer planned the crime for a long time, and that Packer prepared the attic room for the July 7, 2016, assault by bringing a mattress, lamp and other items to the rental home. He also described dismembering the teen’s decomposed remains, saying it was like “wrestling with a 20-size bigger turkey.”

On Monday, hospital employees testified that Sullivan blurted out details of Grace’s killing as they tended to him and wondered aloud why they were blaming Sara Packer since, he said, he was the one who killed Grace.

One nurse testified that Sullivan said he and Sara Packer couldn’t handle Grace, a sexual assault survivor who had previously spent time in a facility for children with emotional problems, but didn’t want to lose custody of her because Packer received monthly government checks for Grace’s care.

A nursing assistant quoted Sullivan as saying, “Gracie was a nightmare,” as he confessed to her killing.

Carroll testified that Sullivan told him that he knew he would eventually be arrested.

“As they’re dumping the body he thought to himself, ‘This is going to end terribly,’” Carroll said.

Sara Packer was not in court Tuesday, and her attorneys have not filed any pretrial motions. Prosecutors on Monday withdrew a motion to try Packer and Sullivan together, signaling there would be two trials unless Packer pleads guilty.

Prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty for Sullivan if he’s convicted, and possibly for Packer.

Judge Diane Gibbons said she will not rule on the motions from the bench, but will issue a decision before Sullivan’s trial in September.

Sullivan and Packer are being held in the Bucks County Jail without bail.